Friday, January 14, 2005
More on Last Month’s Rocket Attack
The Soldiers who were wounded were sitting in their room when the blast blew in the window. Some Soldiers lost a lot of personal and tactical gear and what wasn’t damaged in their rooms, was destroyed in their trucks. Our room had very little damage; the one next to us had its window shattered and several items, including a Play Station, destroyed. Ricky and Marty tried to put out the fire with extinguishers, but it was already too big. Impressively, the Army reimbursed Soldiers for all damaged personal items and equipment.
The company pulled together to help each other out, with the exception of our platoon’s second squad. They balked at taking our duty the next day so we could repair our rooms and help out with the general clean up. They said if they did take our watch, we’d owe them big time. A truck from another platoon helped out with no strings attached.
Reader Feedback
[It’s] interesting that you have to censor your own [CO]
Or similar
Did you really think OPSEC was followed or were you just making a … statement?
I really do think the Commander followed OPSEC. The name of our FOB is posted at the gate. The fire and secondary explosions could easily be seen from the surrounding area. We have dozens of Iraqis working on our base and many of them have seen the damage close up. It’s interesting that if there had been deaths or significant destruction, the story would have been in media, perhaps with pictures. Somehow, since it didn’t rate that attention, it’s a secret. If I were in charge, I’d put up a sign, “**** YOU! You Missed Us!”
There was a legitimate concern about the email: Were the families of those injured notified before the email was sent? Soldiers also complained that they were not allowed to mention the attack to their families, but the commander was. Well, it’s his prerogative.
I sanitized the memo because as an enlisted Soldier, I have to follow a stricter standard. An enlisted Soldier can get into trouble by following the examples of officers. To understand the differences between officers and enlisted Soldiers, let’s use the over simplistic, but time tested agrarian model. Enlisted Soldiers are like indentured servants working on a plantation. The officers are the gentlemen planters, and the NCOs are the overseers: “Wring your cap when the master speaks to thee!”
Indentured Servant: But the master said that I could have off Sunday.
Overseer: I don’t care what the master said. You work for me.
Let’s say an officer told his indentured servants that it’s OK to have a drink at the end of the day, but just don’t get carried away. Do you think that officer would be held accountable when alcohol is found? No, that servant will be flogged or otherwise physically punished.
In some ways, the system has kept up with the times: Instead of surveying his dominion with a Tennessee Walker, it’s now a Segway HT. When a rider approached me looking for directions, I didn’t even look up to see his rank: “Right this way, sir!”
Have you heard the term ‘Powdered Princes’? An analyst used this to describe US Army officers [who are] "Long on the Powerpoint but short on the leadership.
In old my infantry unit, no officers could be described like that. But after my armored unit’s annual training, I told the commander that he needed to let his officers know that the Guard is not a country club.
Officers get accused of glory hunting: “Take a picture of me helping the children” or always at the center of a fire fight. But the latter is more likely do to the fact they are they ranking Soldier in the area of operations (AO), and when something goes down, they don’t have to wait for an order to fire. Officers, like any manager, can have it tough. If he’s hands on, he’s a micromanager. If he’s hands off, he’s never around.
I was on KP when a Soldier complained that there was no syrup for his pancakes. He was emphatic about it, so I assumed he was an officer – I couldn’t tell for sure since he was in a PT uniform. It’s not that the complaint didn’t make sense or would have been unreasonable in civilian life. But the enlisted Soldier understands that this is the Army and officers don’t seem to keep that in mind. For Air Force or Navy enlisted this would still be a good question, but not in the Army.
We were waiting for our tardy senior NCO, when he finally got in the truck and said, “Sorry I’m late guys, I had to [blah blah blah - some lame excuse]”. I smiled and said, “No problem, sir!” To an NCO, that’s an insult.
The Soldiers who were wounded were sitting in their room when the blast blew in the window. Some Soldiers lost a lot of personal and tactical gear and what wasn’t damaged in their rooms, was destroyed in their trucks. Our room had very little damage; the one next to us had its window shattered and several items, including a Play Station, destroyed. Ricky and Marty tried to put out the fire with extinguishers, but it was already too big. Impressively, the Army reimbursed Soldiers for all damaged personal items and equipment.
The company pulled together to help each other out, with the exception of our platoon’s second squad. They balked at taking our duty the next day so we could repair our rooms and help out with the general clean up. They said if they did take our watch, we’d owe them big time. A truck from another platoon helped out with no strings attached.
Reader Feedback
[It’s] interesting that you have to censor your own [CO]
Or similar
Did you really think OPSEC was followed or were you just making a … statement?
I really do think the Commander followed OPSEC. The name of our FOB is posted at the gate. The fire and secondary explosions could easily be seen from the surrounding area. We have dozens of Iraqis working on our base and many of them have seen the damage close up. It’s interesting that if there had been deaths or significant destruction, the story would have been in media, perhaps with pictures. Somehow, since it didn’t rate that attention, it’s a secret. If I were in charge, I’d put up a sign, “**** YOU! You Missed Us!”
There was a legitimate concern about the email: Were the families of those injured notified before the email was sent? Soldiers also complained that they were not allowed to mention the attack to their families, but the commander was. Well, it’s his prerogative.
I sanitized the memo because as an enlisted Soldier, I have to follow a stricter standard. An enlisted Soldier can get into trouble by following the examples of officers. To understand the differences between officers and enlisted Soldiers, let’s use the over simplistic, but time tested agrarian model. Enlisted Soldiers are like indentured servants working on a plantation. The officers are the gentlemen planters, and the NCOs are the overseers: “Wring your cap when the master speaks to thee!”
Indentured Servant: But the master said that I could have off Sunday.
Overseer: I don’t care what the master said. You work for me.
Let’s say an officer told his indentured servants that it’s OK to have a drink at the end of the day, but just don’t get carried away. Do you think that officer would be held accountable when alcohol is found? No, that servant will be flogged or otherwise physically punished.
In some ways, the system has kept up with the times: Instead of surveying his dominion with a Tennessee Walker, it’s now a Segway HT. When a rider approached me looking for directions, I didn’t even look up to see his rank: “Right this way, sir!”
Have you heard the term ‘Powdered Princes’? An analyst used this to describe US Army officers [who are] "Long on the Powerpoint but short on the leadership.
In old my infantry unit, no officers could be described like that. But after my armored unit’s annual training, I told the commander that he needed to let his officers know that the Guard is not a country club.
Officers get accused of glory hunting: “Take a picture of me helping the children” or always at the center of a fire fight. But the latter is more likely do to the fact they are they ranking Soldier in the area of operations (AO), and when something goes down, they don’t have to wait for an order to fire. Officers, like any manager, can have it tough. If he’s hands on, he’s a micromanager. If he’s hands off, he’s never around.
I was on KP when a Soldier complained that there was no syrup for his pancakes. He was emphatic about it, so I assumed he was an officer – I couldn’t tell for sure since he was in a PT uniform. It’s not that the complaint didn’t make sense or would have been unreasonable in civilian life. But the enlisted Soldier understands that this is the Army and officers don’t seem to keep that in mind. For Air Force or Navy enlisted this would still be a good question, but not in the Army.
We were waiting for our tardy senior NCO, when he finally got in the truck and said, “Sorry I’m late guys, I had to [blah blah blah - some lame excuse]”. I smiled and said, “No problem, sir!” To an NCO, that’s an insult.
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